Lemon-squeezer.



J. WIENDL. LEMON SQUEEZER. APPLICATION FILED- NOV. a. 1908.

940,628. Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Him HH H'I'l'll J. WIENDL. LEMON SQUEEZER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 1906.

940,628. Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. WIENDL. LEMON SQUEEZER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 1908.

940,628. Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

17M (imp/ J. WIENDL.

LEMON SQUEEZER.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 3, 1908.

940,628. Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

J. WIENDL.

LEMON SQUEEZER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. 1908.

Patented Nov. 16,1909.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6. 7

am/ M04000 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WIENDL, or DENVER, COLORADO.

LEMON-SQUEEZER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1909.

Application filed November 3, 1908. Serial No. 460,831.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WIENDL, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and'ycounty of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lemon-Squeezers; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to' made for cutting the lemons as they are placed in position upon a stationary knife. A lever arm slotted to receive the knife acts automatically to force the lemon downwardly,causing the knife to sever it midway between its smaller extremities. The halves of the lemon drop on opposite sides of the knife with their flat surfaces downward, and rest upon a platform composed of two members adapted to open and close during the operation of the machine and also arranged to move upwardly and downwardly simultaneously with the opening and closing movement. As the platform is moved downwardly, its members open to expose rotary cone-shaped abutments whose pointed extremities enter the halves of thelemon, the latter being pressed downwardly upon these abutments by lever-like presser members whose forward extremities engage the rinds of the halves of the lemon, being shaped to conform approximately to the contour of the lemon parts which they engage. These presser levers cooperate with the rotary abutments to extract the juice from the lemon, the juice passing into cups in which the rotary abutments are located, the cups be ng provided with outlets to permit the uice toescape intoone or more receptacles.

' When the juice-extracting operation is complete the presser levers are automatically l fted, the platform raised, and the lemon rinds automatically removed from the platform by triggers which move forwardly for the purpose.

The machine may be operated by any suitable power. As shown in the drawing, a hand crank is employed for operating purposes. As the user of the machine turns the crank with one hand, the lemons are successively placed in position for cutting pur poses by the other hand. All of the other operations are automatically performed.

The machine elements whereby these functions are accomplished may evidently be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having briefly outl ned my improved construction I will'proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawing inwhich is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing, Figure 1 is'a front elevaside elevation of the same looking in the direction of arrow 2 Fig. 1, the operating parts of the machine, however, being shown in different relative positions. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the machine with the parts shown in the same position as in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a to plan view of the machine. Fig. 5 is a vertlcal section taken through the machine approximately on the line 55 Figfl. Fig. 6 is adetail view partly in section, illustrating one of the presser levers. F 7 is a detail view illustrating the operation of the lemon-supporting platform, composed of two members adapted to open and close by a horizontal movement simultaneously with its vertically reciprocating move-.

ment. The cooperation ofa rotary abutment is also illustrated in this view. Fig. .8 is a top View of the platform shown in connection with the devices'for imparting the opening and closing action to its members simultaneously with its downward movement.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate a framework composed principally of parallel side plates 6 suitably separated for the purpose. As shown in the drawing these plates are connected at the bottom by an inverted U-sh aped member 7, whose extremities are bent downwardly as shown at 8 and secured to the side lates by screws 9 or other suitable fasten: lng devices. The two frame-plates are con- 75. tion of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a plates are provided with relatively large openings, 16 which are best illustrated in Fig. 4. These openings are of sufficient size to allow the lemon halves to pass downwardly therethrough as the platform makes its downward movement as hereinafter described in detail.

Suitably supported between the two frame plates 6 are two cups 17 which are connected together as shown at 18, whereby they are made stationary; Journaled in'the lower extremities 19 of these cups are vertically disposed shafts 20 which project upwardly into the cups'as well as downwardly therefrom. The upper extremities of these shafts which, as shown in the drawing extend nearly to the top of the cups, are provided with rotary abutments 98 having the general shape of a cone and corrugated to facilitate extraction of the juice from the pulp of the lemon as the abutments rotate.

The portion of each shaft 20 which extends below a cup 17 is equipped with a worm 21 whichis engaged by a worm wheel 22 mounted upon a horizontal shaft 23 journaled in bearings 24 secured to the lower part of the frame plates 6.

Mounted upon one extremity of the shaft 23 which protrudes beyond the framework for the urpose, is a gear 25 which meshes with a arger gear 26 journaled upon a spindle 27 secured to one of the frame plates 6. The gear 26 in turn meshes with a larger gear 28 fast upon a shaft 29 to the central part of which a cam 30 is secured. Also mounted upon this shaft on opposite sides of the cam 30 are two'cams 31. The cam 30 is arranged to act upon the rearward arm 32 of alever 33 fulcrumed on the frame as shown at 34. The rear portions of the side members 6 of the frame are provided with upward extensions 4, for the purpose. The forward arm 35 of the lever 33 is slotted as shown at A and forced downwardly as the cam 30 acts upon its rear arm, the forward arm serving to force the lemon 36 down upon the knife 15 which enters the slot A of the lever arm, whereby the lemon is severed midway between its extremities. The downward movement of the arm 35 of thislever is thereby imparted by the action of the' cam 30- upon the rear arm. A spiral spring 3.

is connected with the rear arm of the said lever for imparting the reverse movement thereto, .the opposite extremity of the spring being connected with a. stationary lug 2,-

mounted on the frame Each cam 31 acts upon the short rear arm 37 of presser lever 38 fulcrumed on a spindle 39. The main arm 40 of this lever is equipped at its forward extremity with an inverted dish-shaped ring 41 provided Witha number of members 42 each of which-consists of a piece of metal bent at 43 and doubled back on itself to form springs 44 which come in direct contact with the rind of the lemon during the juice-extracting operation. The spring arts 44 afiord a cer tain degree of elasticity whereby these devices are adapted for use with lemons of different sizes. If these lemon-engaging extremities of the presser levers were absolutely rigid and unyielding there might be a tendency in the case of very large lemons to subject the rind to undue pressure, which is undesirable. Lemon rinds can be subjected to sufficient pressure to extract a limited amount of juice therefrom. This, of course, should be avoided since the juice of the rind is bitter and .to a certain extent vitiates the juice extracted from the pulp or inside portion of the lemon.

Each spindle 39 is secured to the'framework by means of a nut 45 applied to one extremity thereof, the nut engaging the outer surface of the frame plate 6, while a collar 46 fast on the spindle engages the inner surface of said plate, which is clamped between the nut and the collar. Mounted on each spindle is a spiral spring 47, one extremityof which is secured to the adjacent frame plate 6 as shown at B, while the other 100 extremity is connected with the forward arm of the presser leveras shown at 48 whereby as soon as the rear arm 37 of the presser lever is released by its cam 31, the recoil of the spring 47 will return the presser lever to 105 its upward limit of movement, its upward and rearward travel being limited by a rod 49 which is horizontally disposed and extends from one upward projection 4 to the other.

Located below the stationary top plates 10 is a platform 50 composed of two overlapping plates 51 and 52. The plate 51 is centrally secured to a short bar 53 by screws 54; while-the member 52 is centrally secured 115 to a similar short bar 55 by screws D. The bars 53 and 55 are respectively secured to the upper extremities of two vertically disposed rods 56 and 57 whose upper extremities are connected by a spiral spring 58 120 located just below the platform members and having a tendency to hold the said members in the closed position or that illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawing and in dotted lines in Fig. 7. The rods 56 and 57*are further 125 connected by a spiral spring 59 whose extremities are connected with collars 60 adjustable vertically upon the rods by set screws 61." This spring 59 passes over the part 18 connecting the two cups 17 as hereto- 139 fore explained. By virtue of this support intermediate the extremities of the spring 57, the latter is given additional tension as the rods move downwardly with the platform members under the influence of a lever 62 fulcrumed on a shaft 63, whose extremities are supported by the frame plate members 6.' The forward arm Gtof this lever en.- gages a lug 65 mounted on the forward rod or that designated 56, the said lug being ve'rtically adjustable on the rod by a set screw or bolt 66. The rear arm 67 of this lever is acted on by a cam 68 fast on the shaft 29. As this shaft is rotated, the caiii.68 acts on the arm 67 of this lever to throw the latter forwardly, whereby the downward move ment is imparted to the arm 64 of the lever, which acting 011 the lug 65 serves to move the rods 56 and 57 together with the platform 50'downwardly. The action ofthe lever arm is directly upon the lug 65 connected with the rod 56 as heretofore explained; but as the platform member 51 overlaps the member 52, the last named member together with its rod 57, is carried downwardly together with the member 51 and the rod 56.

Attached to the inner surfaces of the'two frame plates 6 are two heart-shaped separating devices 69 whose pointed extremitres are uppermost and normally protrude into spaces 70 formed'by cutting away the platform members on opposite sides forming shoulders 71 and 72 on the respective members. As the platform members are carried downwardly in the manner heretofore explained, the shoulders 71 and 72 engage these inclined or curved edges of these sepa rating devices, causing the two platforn members to simultaneously separate or recede from each other horizontally, whereby approximately circular openings are formed between the members on opposite sides of the centrally located knife. These openings permit the entrance of the rotary abutment-s which are exposed above the platform as the latter movesdownwardly, thus allowing the rotary abutments to cotiperate with the presser levers in extracting the juice from v the two parts ofthe lemon, The separation of the platform members causes the two rods 56 and 57 to recede from each other at the top. In order to cause the lowerextremities of these rods to move away from each other to an extent corresponding with their upper extremities, the lower ends of the rods are made-to engage a groove '73 formed in a semi-circular member 74:IX1011I1t8d upon the frame-plate-connecting member 7. As the rods 56 and 57 separate during thedownward movement of the platform the springs.

58 and 59 are placed under tension and the recoil of these springs serves to bring the two rods together and consequently J cause therods and platform to move upwardly as soon as the cam 68 leaves the rear arm 67 of mately circular openings are formed between the members when the latter are in their downward, and consequently open or separated position. The upperextremities of thevrotary abutments 98 normally protrude into the openings 100 in the platform, when the latter is at its upward limit of movement.

Secured exteriorly to the parts 12 of the plates 10 on opposite sides of the machine, are two shelves 75 each of which is provided with an upwardly projecting pin 76 upon which is fulcrumed a lever 77 whoseshort arm 78 is acted on by'the short arm 79of a bell-crank lever 80 fulcrumed on a pin 81 slidable in a slot 82 formed in the outer depending flanges 83 of the shelf. The long arm 84 of this lever on one side of the machine is connected with 'a pin 85 mounted on the large gear 28; while on the opposite side of the machine the corresponding arm of the bell-crank lever is connected with a pin 86 mounted 011 a wheel 87 fast on the extremity of the shaft 29 opposite that upon which the gear 28 is mounted.

The long arm 88 of each lever 77 is given considerable vertical width by doubling the metal strip of which the lever is formed,

back upon itself, forming an upper member 89 separated from the lower member 90. It

is this arm of the lever that performs the i rind-removing function. Hence, the necessity for an arm of considerable vertical .depth or width in order to insure the removal of the lemon rinds from the platform,

as this arm of the lever moves. forwardly under the influence of a coil spring 91 mounted upon each pin 76. One extremity of this springis connected with tlfe shelf as shown at 92 while the other extremity is connected with the arm 88 of the lever at 93. When the machine is in operation the short arm of each bell-crank lever acts upon the short arm-of therind-removing lever to throw the long arm of the latter rearwardly,

in which position it is held by the presse'r' levers until they move upwardly in response to the recoil of their sprmgs, in which event as shown the rind-removing levers are released and their long arms allowed to move forwardly to perform the function of removing the lemon rinds from the platform.

In order to allow the lemon juice to escape from the cups 17 and at the same time direct it into separate receptacles or" into a single receptacle as may be desired, each cup is provided with a short open-ended pipe C one extremity of which is threaded into an opening formed in the lower part of the cup. These pipes are forwardly and downwardly inclined for the purpose.

As illustrated in the drawing the op rating shaft 23 is equipped with a hand crank 94 secured to the shaft by a set-bolt 95. For convenience of operation this crank is pro vided with a hand-piece 96.

For the purpose of receiving the lemon rinds as they are removed from the platform by the levers 77 a basket or other suitable receptacle (not shown) may be connected with the front part of the framework, and for this purpose the upper plates 10 may be equipped with hooks 97.-

\ From theforegoing description the use and, operation of my improved device will be readily understood. Assuming that the forward arms ofthe prcsser levers 38 and also the forward slotted arm of the lever 33, are in the raised position, the lemon 36 is placed upon'the knife 15 with one hand while the other hand of the operator turns the crank 94 of the machine. This action rotates the shaft 23 directly and by virtue of the gearing connection the rotary movement is simultaneously imparted to the cam shaft 29. The movement of the shaft 23 rotates the worm wheels 22 and these wheels acting. on the worms 21 impart rotary movement to the vertical shafts 20 carrying the coneshaped abutments 98'. The machine being in motion and the parts in the positionassumed as aforesaid, the arm 35 of the lever' 33 will first move downwardly since its rear arm 32 is acted on by the cam,30 to impart this movement. As the arm 35 moves downwardly, it presses the lemon upon the knife 15 whereby the lemon is cut midway 1ts extremities into two parts each falling downwardly on opposite sides of the platform, the cut or flat surface of each lemon part resting upon the platform, and covering an elliptical opening 100. 'As the oper-' atlon of the machine is continued, the cains'. 31 act upon thepresser levers :38 to throw their forward arms downwardly, and as soon as the forward extremities of these levers engage the lemon parts, the platform, by virtue'of the actionof the arm 68 on the lever 62 is caused to descend exposing the rotary abutments above the platform and allowing the latter to enter the pulp of the lemon parts and extract the juice therefrom, the juice-extracting function beingaided by the presser levers acting upon the rind thereof, as heretofore explained. As the juice leaves the lemon parts it passes into the cups 17 and escapes therefrom through the pipes G- into separate receptacles or a single receiver as may be des1red. During the lemonsqueezing function, the forward arm 35 of the lever 33 is caused to move upwardly by virtue ofthe action of the spring 3 since the cam 30 assumes a position to permit this result. After the juice has been extracted fromthe lemon parts, the cams 31 become levers'to their raised position. During the beginning of the operation of the machine the-rind-removing levers 77 are in the position shown by' dotted lines in Fig. 4, while the bell crank levers 80 are in the position shown in full lines in the same figure. As the machine begins to move, the said levers 80 are thrust forwardly and their arms 79 act upon the short arms 78 of the levers 77 and throw the long arms of the said levers 77 to the rearward position or the position shown by full lines in Fig. 4. Then as the forward arms of the presseft levers descend, they move into the path of the long arms 88 of the levers 77 and hold the said levers in the aforesaid position while the bell-crank levers move rearwardly, during the rotary action 6f the wheels 28 and 87 with which they are connected. As soon, however, as the forward arms of the presser levers move upwardly, the platform 50 being also returned to its upward limit of movement, the levers 77 are released and their long arms moved forwardly, scraping the lemon rinds from the platform into the basket or other suitable receptacle not shown, as heretofore explained. I have already explained that the top plates 10 upon. which the knife 15 is mounted, are secured to the frame members 6 by screws 13. These screws pass through slots E formed in the downwardly bent outer edges of the plates, said slots being open at *the bottom of these downwardly bent parts.

Whenever it is desired to "clean the cups 17 the plates 10 may be removed by simply loosening the screws 13 and lifting the spective wheels by removing the cotters F after which the levers may be detached from the pins 85. Hence as the plates 10 are removed, the shelves 75, the bell crank levers 80 and the rind-removing levers 77 are carried with them. -Then if it is desired to further uncover the cups, the vertically reciprocating platform 50, together with the rods 56 and 57 and the other attachments, mayalso be removed from the machine by disconnecting one extremity of the spring 59. In this event all of the devices above the cups will be removed giving complete access thereto for cleaning purposes.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. A lemon squeezer comprising a vertically reciprocating lemon supporting platform composed of members adapted to open and close in a horizontal direction, and

' lemon squeezing devices cooperating with said platform.

2. A lemon squeezer including a rotary abutment, and an' opposing cooperating presser arm, anda vertically reciprocating, horizontally-opening-and-closing,lemon supporting latform.

A evice of the class described including an abutment mounted to rotate on a vertical axis, an opposing cooperating presser arm, and a vertically reciprocating, horizontally-opening-and-closing, lemon supporting platform..

4. A lemon squeezer including a rotary abutment of approximately coniform shape, an opposing presser arm mounted to oscillate, and a vertically reciprocating, horizontally-opening-and-closing, lemon supporting platform substantially as described.

5. A lemon squeezer including a rotary abutment having a pointed upper extremity, a cooperating presser, arm, and a vertically reciprocating, horizontally opening -'andclosing, lemon supporting platform.

6. A lemon squeezer including a rotary abutment having a pointed extremity adapted to enter the pulp side of a lemon segment;

an opposing device engaging the rind side of the lemon segment and a vertically reciprocating, horizontally-opening-and clos ing, lemon supporting platform, substantially as described. I

7. A lemon squeezer including a corrugated rotary abutment, anopposing presser arm having one extremity shaped to engage the rind surface of a half lemon, the abut ment being shaped to enter the out side of the lemon part and a vertically reciprocat-.

ing, horizontally-opening-and-closing, lemon supporting platform, substantially as dc scribed.

8. A device of'the class described including a rotary abutment having a pointed extremity, and an opposing presser arm hav: ing one extremity shaped to conform in a general way to the shape of the rind surface of a half-lemon and equipped with yielding members, for the purpose set forth.

9. A lemon squeezer including an abut-.

ment mounted to rotate on a vertical axis, means for operating the same, a cooperating opposing presser arm, means for actuating the latter and a vertically reciprocating, horizc ntally-opening-and-closing, lemon supporting platform; substantially as described.

10.;A lemon squeezer including a rotary abutment having a pointed extremity adapted to enter a cut surface of ahalf lemon seg- .ment, the abutment being corrugated and increasing in size from 'itspointed extremity downwardly, a cooperating presser arm having one extremity shaped to engage the rind surface of a half lemon, a cam for actuating the presser arm in one direction, land a spring for lmpartlng the reverse movement,

ing a centrally located knife, a platform extending on opposite sides of the knife, an arm acting to press the lemon upon the knife for cutting purposes, and lemonsqueezing devices arranged on opposite sides of the knife, and cooperating with the platform, substantially as described.

14. In mechanism of-the class described,

the combination of a-centrally located knife,

a lever arm serving to press the lemon down upon the knife for cutting purposes, a support on opposite sides ofv the knife to receive the parts of the bisected lemon, a rotary abutment located on each side of the knife and presser arms cooperating with the abutments to extract the juice from the lemon halves, substantially as'described.

15. A lemon squeezer comprising a vertically reciprocating platform composed of two members adapted to open and close in a horizontal direction, lemon rcuttlng centrally disposed above the plat rm, ro-

-taryabutments mounted on opposite sides of the cutting devices, and adapted to enter openings formed between the platform members during their opening movement, and pressure devices cooperating with the abut ments, substantially as described.

16. A lemon squeezer including a rotary abutment, a cooperating presser arm a vertically movable, horizontally-opening-andclosing lemon supporting platform and a cup surrounding the abutment and adapted to receive the juice extracted durin the lemon squeezing operation, substantially as described.

17. A lemon squeezer including a vertically reciprocating platform I composed of members adapted to open and close in a horizontal direction, a rotary abutmentmeans for opening the platform members during the downward movement whereby -'the rotary abutment is exposed above the devlces platform, and a presser .ar'in dodperatin'g with the abutment for lemon squeezing purposes, substantially as described.

l8.- A'lemon squeezer including a vertically reciprocating platform composed of two members adapted to open and close in a horizontal directlon, a spring for normally holding the platform members in the closed position and means arranged to separate the platform members during their downward movement, rotary abutments adapted to pass between the separated platform members, and means cooperating with the abutments to perform vthe lemon squeezing function simultaneously with the downward vmovement of the platform, substantially as described. t

19. A lemon squeezer comprising a vertically movable platform comprising two members adapted to open and close in a horizontal direction, yielding members for normally retaining the platform members in the closed position, means for separating-the platform members during their downward movement and abutments adapted to pass between the platform members during their downward movement, means cooperating with the abutments for lemon squeezing purposes, and 'cups surrounding the abutments for receiving the lemon juice, substantially as describe a i 20. A lemon squeezer comprising a platform, abiitments adapted to enter openings formed in the platform, cooperating presser arms, and means for automatically removing the rinds from the latform after the lemon squeezing function is complete, substantially p as described.

21. In 'a device of the class described, the combination of a vertically reciprocating platform composed of two members vadapted to 0 en and close in a horizontal direction, yiel ing means for normally holding the platform members in the closed position,

means for separating the platform members during their downward movement, rotary emcee platform for rind removing purposes, the

movement of the levers being timed to har monize with the action of the lemon squeezing devices, substantially as described.

23. A lemon squeezer comprising a cup, a vertically disposed shaft centrally located in the cup and passing througlil the bottom thereof, an abutment mounted on the upper extremity of the shaft, a lemon-supporting platform cooperating with the abutment, and an opposing presser arm cooperating with the abutment for lemon squeezing purposes, substantially as described.

24-. In a device of the class described, the i 1 combination with a lemon squeezing device, of a vertically reciprocating platform composed of two members, rods forming supports for said members, springs attached to the rods for normally holding the platform members in the closed position and a grooved semi-circular member engaging the rods during the downward movement of the platform to facilitate the opening movement of the platform members, substantially "as'described. I

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature -in presence of two witnesses;

JOHN WIENDL'.

VVitnesses': v A. J. OBRI'EN,

A. EBERT'OBRIEN. 

